2017년 11월 20일 월요일

The Chair of the IPEAD, Mu-Jeong Kho (academic affiliation: University College London) joined the petition below for the release of Spain's political prisoners and for fair elections in Catalonia on December 21st.

To view the lists of academics (including Mu-Jeong Kho) supporting freedom and democracy in Catalonia, please click the link or this pdf file.

Petition for the release of Spain’s political prisonersand for fair elections in Catalonia on December 21st

Addressed to:

The United Nations, Mr. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations

The European Council, Mr. Donald Tusk, President of the European Council

The European Commission, Mr. Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission

In the wake of the Referendum on Independence and the subsequent Catalan Parliament’s proclamation of independence, the Spanish government dissolved the Catalan Parliament, deposed the Catalan government, and arrested eight members of the cabinet, including its vice-president. Although Spain has tried to extradite Catalonia’s president and the remaining four ministers, who are currently in Belgium in an effort to ensure a fair hearing, their efforts have been so far unsuccessful. The Spanish prosecutor’s comparison of the October 1st referendum on Catalan independence with an “armed coup d’état” reveals Spain’s untenable position.

The Spanish government’s appeal to the rule of law cannot disguise a political persecution of an extent and intensity not seen since the Franco dictatorship. The government’s obvious goal is to not only instill fear in the Catalan people by censorship, arrests and threats before the referendum, but also by the overwhelming brutal police violence that was visited upon peaceful voters on October 1st itself. Furthermore, this has continued since the referendum, by extending judicial persecution to civil servants, mayors, teachers, journalists, and any person who voices opinions on behalf of the citizens’ peaceful exercise of their democratic rights.

Spanish president Mariano Rajoy has called for snap elections in Catalonia on December 21st, while prominent members of his government and the Senate have simultaneously declared their intention to ignore any victory of pro-independence parties. Even without the incarceration of prominent political leaders and would-be candidates, their mistreatment in custody and persistent far-right violence against journalists and citizens, the response of the Spanish government is hardly creating a climate in which fair and free elections can be properly held.

Because Catalans insist on a democratic solution to this conflict, they are willing to once again decide this matter through the ballot box. However, in order for those elections to be an honest arbiter, certain conditions must be met, and thus the undersigned hereby call on the UN, the European Council and the European Commission to:

Stop condoning Spain’s undemocratic behaviour, including its misuse of the courts, its takeover of Catalan government institutions, its police violence, and its turning of a blind eye toward the more than one hundred incidents of far-right violence that have appeared after every unionist march.

Guarantee Catalans’ civil and political rights as European citizens, including the freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, and freedom of political expression, which are currently being violated with impunity by the Spanish State.

Demand that Spain release the ten political prisoners currently in Spanish jails, whose summary judgement hearings and subsequent preventative ‘custody’ in prison cells is a travesty of European democracy, and whose participation in the election cannot be fairly executed from jail.

Guarantee that no person or party will be prohibited from participating in the elections in Catalonia, and that Spain will not dictate which electoral programs are acceptable.

Provide accredited international observers to ensure that the imposed December 21st elections in Catalonia are carried out fairly and honestly.

The only peaceful solution to the conflict between Spain and Catalonia is a democratic one. It is time for the European and International communities to assert their influence in insisting that Catalan citizens be given the chance to express their opinion over the future of their country freely and democratically without fear of retribution in the courts, by police or by far-right extremists.

This petition will be considered one of the contents of the Mu-Jeong Kho's forthcoming book, 'Economists in Manifesto'.

2017년 11월 11일 토요일

Japan Association for Social Policy Studies (JASPS, 日本社会政策学会; http://www.jasps.org, founded in 1897) recently released the members of the society. Mu-Jeong Kho is one of the members with a specialty of Labor-Management Relations and Labor Economy.

Please first click here for more information.
And also click here as well.

2017년 10월 26일 목요일

As a straight outcome of this achievement, Heidi Hartmann and Michael Reich, who are the authors of the petition below, have sent the petition to the American Economic Association (AEA) today. A press release--More than 1,000 Economists impulse the AEA to Address Misogyny in the Field - has gone out this morning from the Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR) announcing the success of the petition.

"To the President, President-Elect, and the Executive Committee of the American Economic Association:

As professional economists, we have been disturbed by recent reports concerning the inappropriate and sexist comments made on the Economics Job Market Rumors (EJMR) website.

Exhortations by some economists to boycott EJMR or to change the culture of the profession, desirable as those may be, do not go far enough. No one can shut down the EJMR site. We call upon the AEA to provide an alternative site-- which could be called AEA Job Market Data.

Economics Departments that use JOE or the job market at the annual meeting would be asked or required to provide detailed information on their job/candidate search and matching process, by individual name, for their own openings--interviewees at the AEA, call-backs, placements, offers extended and accepted, and so on. The AEA should devise methods to protect job candidate privacy while maintaining the added value of the site.

Placement officers and personnel committee members at many departments already collect much of this information on their competitors.

These data would improve transparency and fairness in the job market, especially for women and minority economists. Crowd-sourcing and scraping department web pages to obtain these data are already prevalent--but only available on EJMR or partially by personal effort. Unlike EJMR, an AEA-sanctioned site would not be rumor-based.

The AEA should release and widely disseminate a public statement that condemns the treatment of women economists on the site and should also reaffirm its commitment to increasing the diversity and geographical reach of the AEA in addition to supporting the professional development and interests of economists, teachers and students."

This petition has been released to the media: the Wall Street Journal, IWPR, etc.

p.s. The Chair of the IPEAD, Mu-Jeong Kho (academic affiliation: University College London) also joined this Petition to the AEA regarding the Economics Job Market Rumors (EJMR) website. This petition will be treated in Mu-Jeong Kho's new book to come, titled 'Economists in Manifesto'.

2017년 7월 20일 목요일

The Chair of the IPEAD, Mu-Jeong Kho (academic affiliation: University College London) had his conference paper's presentation (7/July/2017) at Building Bridges Interdisciplinary Conference held in Samaria Hotel of Chania, Crete, Greece. His conference paper has been considered one of the very interesting topics in the context of 'On Theory' as well as of the issues which the 'higher education' has been faced hitherto.

Furthermore, this conference is quite well arranged and armed with very exciting topics and intellectuals who do not hesitate to build bridges with others who have different academic disciplines, at the old town 'Chania'. The Building Bridges says, "this is an interdisciplinary, inquiry-driven gathering with the main focus on bringing people together to share ideas in a convivial environment. We hope to explore what kind of alternative questions, concepts, methods and practices are necessary to address these complex challenges of our time." https://www.buildingbridges.uk.com/chania-2017-call-for-talks/

For your information (e.g. the programme), please click this link.https://www.buildingbridges.uk.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Building-Bridges-Final-Programme.pdf

2017년 6월 21일 수요일

The Building Bridges Network finally issued and upload its in-house conference programme including (1) the timetable and the guidelines for presenters and chairs, and (2) abstracts, on its website below:

Building Bridges: Interdisciplinary ConferenceBuilding Bridges in a Complex World

News

Mu-Jeong Kho

Academic Affiliation:

University College London

&

The Chair of the Institute

for Political Economy &

Development (IPEAD)

Mu-Jeong Kho (Academic Affiliation: University College London), the Chair of the Institute for Political Economy and Development (IPEAD) , finally received an acceptance letter for his very short abstract & paper submitted to Building Bridges - Interdisciplinary Conference: Building Bridges in a Complex World, which is held in CHANIA, CRETE, GREECE | 6-8 July 2017.

The Invitation Letter from the Building Bridges Conference Committee to Mu-Jeong Kho, please click this link.

The Building Bridges Conference Guidelines and Timetable: Please click this link.

The Building Bridges is:

"A Radically Different Kind of ConferenceA very warm welcome!We are a network of academics and practitioners motivated by our work experiences inside and outside of Europe. With this being the first conference, we are hoping to turn this into an annual gathering to build bridges on three different levels: between theorists and practitioners, between people from different disciplines and between people from different parts of the world.Our personal experiences in education and the general job market are that job insecurity, isolation and competitiveness –through constant evaluations, satisfaction surveys, pressure to secure funding and ultimately generate income– create a culture that encourages cut-throat encounters. On a political and professional level, it leads to a lack of collaboration and solidarity between groups and professions. On a personal level, it makes us feel alienated, which obviously affects our life satisfaction and mental health.The close link between personal and professional matters is seen but not talked about in formal conference spaces and only finds its place in private dinner table conversations with people we feel comfortable with. It is in this spirit that we invite you to contribute to build an intellectual home for all of us." (Building Bridges 2017; https://www.buildingbridges.uk.com/)

2017년 4월 19일 수요일

The IPEAD's Chair Mu-Jeong Kho (academic affiliation: University College London) had his conference paper's presentation at the 59th Annual WSSA-AFIT Conference, San Francisco (Hyatt Recency Embarcadero), CA, the USA.

Pictured by D. Silva

Mu-Jeong Kho's Conference paper has been considered one of the very significant topics in the context of enduring influence of Thorstein Veblen, and particularly in Economics and also its relevant association such as Association for Institutional Thought (AFIT).

Mu-Jeong Kho's paper has been selected to be included in the Association for Institutional Thought (AFIT) program at the Western Social Science Association conference to be held from April 12-15, 2017 in San Francisco, California, at the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero.